18 



deep blue colouring was stated to have been extremely beautiful ; 

 but this had already disappeared considerably, although the specimen 

 had been but twelve days in spirit. Still enough remained to show 

 how defective in this particular is the figure in Bloch's Ichthyology 

 [No. 294.], which appears to have been taken from a dried speci- 

 men, and exhibits scarcely a trace of the rich colouring of the 

 recent fish. 



The Chairman brought to the recollection of the Committee the 

 recent addition to the British Fauna of a species of Warbler (the 

 Sylvia Tithys, Scop.) nearly allied to the Redstart, Sylvia phcenicu- 

 rus, L., but distinguished from that bird by its dark slate- coloured 

 breast, and by the dusky-black colour of its two middle tail-fea- 

 thers. The first occurrence of this bird in England was recorded 

 in the 5th volume of the " Zoological Journal," page 102, by Mr. 

 John Gould, who has since ascertained that two other individuals 

 have been met with; one in the neighbourhood of Bristol, the 

 other at Brighton. Both these specimens were obtained during the 

 last summer. The Chairman added, as a peculiarity of this bird, 

 that its egg, as described and figured by continental writers, is 

 white ; while the eggs of all the nearly allied species are pale blue. 



A communication by J. C. Cox, Esq., F.L.S., &c, was read, on 

 the subject of preserving a proper temperature for exotic animals. 

 Mr. Cox commences by remarking on the capability of animals for 

 enduring great extremes of temperature, and instances the experi- 

 ments of Sir Joseph Banks and Sir C. Blagdon, in which a heat of 

 at least 230° was borne without great inconvenience ; while, on the 

 other hand, Captain Parry and his men were exposed to a tempera* 

 ture of —40° and even lower : thus showing that the human frame 

 is susceptible of a range of temperature of probably 300°, without 

 injury to life. Such extremes can, however, be submitted to but 

 for a short period. To keep animals, natives of tropical climates, 

 in good health, they should be preserved from too great extremes ; 

 and as it is important to imitate as much as possible the character 

 of the climate from which they are brought, the hygrometric state 

 of the atmosphere should be attended to almost equally with the 

 temperature. The hot winds of the Desert (Mr. Cox remarks), to- 

 gether with the absorbent nature of the sandy soil, render the 

 general state of the atmosphere in the central parts of Africa 

 that of extreme dryness; but this is an exception to intertropical 

 regions in general. In Guiana and La Plata, for instance, and in 

 Ceylon, the thick woods exhale a considerable degree of moisture, 

 far exceeding that of our own country ; the mean dew point of the 

 atmosphere of London being 44°"5, while that of intertropical regions 

 is from 70° to 75°. Animals from such climates, it is suggested, 

 require a moist atmosphere, and this may readily be produced by 

 watering the flues used for heating the houses in which they are 

 kept. Analogous to this is the advantage obtained in the cultiva- 

 tion of stove plants by keeping the houses well-watered. The 



